Indians add Swisher

The Cleveland Indians officially signed the Ohio native on Thursday to a four-year contract through 2016 with a vesting option for the 2017 season.

Swisher was born in Columbus and attended Ohio State University from 2000-02,
earning All-Big Ten honors during his sophomore and junior seasons.

The 32-year-old veteran spent the past four seasons with the Yankees and
helped New York to its last World Series title in 2009. He batted .272 with 24
homers and 93 runs batted in last season.

A fan favorite for much of his four years in the Bronx, Swisher was unhappy
after Yankee fans again criticized his lack of postseason success. He was just
5-for-30 in eight playoff games in 2012, and batted just .162 in 36 postseason
games for the Yankees.

Swisher is a career .256 hitter with 209 homers, 673 RBI and a .361 on-base
percentage in 1,209 games over nine big league seasons. He broke in with
Oakland in 2004 and spent four seasons with the Athletics before playing one
year with the White Sox.

Swisher made the 2010 American League All Star team and is one of three AL
players, along with Paul Konerko and David Ortiz, to hit at least 20 home runs
in each of the last eight seasons.

Boston, Texas and Seattle were also in the bidding for Swisher, who has
belted at least 20 homers in each of his eight full big league seasons.